let's start with hagel. how will our nato allies, how will they react or will there be any reaction at all when leon panetta shows up for the meeting in brussels and not chuck haguele? >> i think they understand what the american political system looks like. they understand. every one of the nato allies has his own political problems at home. imagine an alliance with 26 members and every one of them has an election, there's an election every two or three, four years in every country so there's always an election, there's always turnover. the united states is the major power behind nato, the major military power, but chuck hagel is a known entity. people in europe know him, they respect him, they like him, and they'll wait for him. >> have you been surprised at all by the backlash, and not just the backlash but how long the backlash has lasted against chuck hagel by his republican colleagues or from his republican colleagues? >> no, because when you go against, when you've been a republican, and you go agains